1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to firearms, to cartridge magazines and to magazine loaders, and to methods and apparatus for storing cartridges or charging magazines.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The following disclosure statement is made pursuant to the duty of disclosure imposed by law and formulated in 36 CFR 1.56(a). No representation is hereby made that information thus disclosed in fact constitutes prior art, inasmuch as 37 CFR 1.56(a) relies on a materiality concept which depends on uncertain and inevitably subjective elements of substantial likelihood and reasonableness and inasmuch as a growing attitude appears to require citation of material which might lead to a discovery of pertinent material though not necessarily being of itself pertinent. Also, the following comments contain conclusions and observations which have only been drawn or become apparent after conception of the subject invention or which contrast the subject invention or its merits against the background of developments which may be subsequent in time or priority.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,237,712, by F. G. Mullins, issued Apr. 8, 1941, discloses a cartridge holder in which cartridges are loaded in alternating different directions and have to be individually removed by manual actuation of an alternating gate serving two chambers.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,403,012, by L. L. McPheters, issued July 2, 1946, discloses a magazine loader in which cartridges are disposed sideways in a channel-shaped member so that the bullets faced one side wall and the cartridge bottoms the opposite side wall of the channel member. That arrangement permitted only a single unstaggered layer of cartridges to be deposited in the channel member, so that the same either had only a limited capacity or had to be relatively long in any case. Also, that magazine loader required a lid which was located on top of the sides of the cartridges, so that an elongate slot for the handle of a cartridge seater had to be provided in that removable lid. That kind of construction also required a track for the cartridge seater, running inside the channel at a distance from the bottom thereof, and thereby consuming space that, with a radically different construction, could have been employed for a staggering of deposited cartridges.
The kind of construction there proposed also required the lid to be hinged laterally to one of the side walls of the channel-shaped container.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,462,836, by R. S. Barker et al, issued Mar. 1, 1949, discloses a cartridge clip loader of a design less than adequate for field use, particularly in terms of lack of inherent sturdiness.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,659,173, by G. D. Capito, issued Nov. 17, 1953, discloses a device for loading the magazines of automatic guns which not only required a two-hand operation for pushing gun shells out of the loader, but in terms of design approach was only suitable for the Oerlikon and other heavy field and navy guns.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,773,325, by J. L. Hill, issued Dec. 11, 1956, discloses a magazine and cartridge container assembly in which cartridges are pre-packaged in a cardboard or similar container.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,024, by E. Skoff, issued Apr. 25, 1961, discloses a cartridge loader for a tubular magazine, in which cartridges, like in the above mentioned Capito device, first had to be inserted through the discharge opening of the loader. Of course, that would not have been particularly convenient in practice and, in effect, would have resulted in as much work, as if the cartridges were directly loaded into the magazine of the particular gun or firearm.
In consequence, up to the present, firearm magazines continued to be loaded the old way, in which cartridges have to be pushed individually through the magazine discharge opening against the bias of an increasingly stiff spring. Especially for automatic firearms, this is a laborious and time-consuming operation, particularly with cold fingers out in the field. The user of the firearm thus is rendered periodically helpless for the duration of the time required to load the magazine of the automatic firearm, inasmuch as he or she cannot practically carry an unlimited number of loaded magazines into the field. This thus can cause a dangerous situation, especially under enemy fire in a military situation or in the presence of firing criminals in law enforcement. Even in the area of hunting, the periods of time for reloading a rifle should be kept at a minimum in the presence of wild animals.